Police have arrested a violent man they had been searching for more than two weeks.

Shaun Bedward disappeared last month, breaching the conditions of his release from prison.

The 48-year-old was jailed after attacking a terrified woman and holding her hostage in a wood and was sentenced to 18 months behind bars for false imprisonment at Kingston Crown Court in March.

Bedward lured a woman he befriended down a dark country lane after telling her he wanted to give her money, old medals and poems.

He had been living in a tent in Chessington woods.

But when she became scared Bedward began shouting and grabbed his victim by the wrists, pushed her to the ground and held her down with his body during the incident in November last year.

She escaped and police used CS gas to capture Bedward, who was sitting on a bridge near the A3.

When police searched his tent they found a book about serial killers and tape.